Following on from 2018’s acclaimed ‘Actualisation’, ‘The Deep End’ builds upon the acid house influences of the former but ventures into many new paths. Hip hop, techno, drum ‘n’ bass and other ‘genres’ sneak into the creative palette whilst also staying true to the band mantra of throwing the rule book out of the window, as far as ‘genres’ or ‘boundaries’ are concerned.

The album was penned over the Spring of 2019 by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths). Again, Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals were key tools for writing, whilst the Roland SH01a found its way onto the team sheet, as well as a sampler for the first time.
Recording commenced in March 2019, the ethos being rehearsing and recording a track as soon as it was written with mixing taking place on each track shortly after. By July 2019 85% of the album was completed, the final track laid down in January 2020.

The album was again recorded at Whitewood Studios, Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, the album produced alongside long-time collaborator Ross Halden (Ghost Town Studios, Leeds) with frontman Mark Emmerson, with mastering via Dean Honer (All Seeing I/I Monster/The Moonlandingz).

Lead track ‘CHI-03’ gives the album its first sucker punch moment. A track born out of listening to late 80s hip hip records on loop before allowing the 303 to take on the co-lead vocal role alongside the addition of the sampler. A beat again designed to make people move, with enough Lucid sonics to stamp the band signature.

‘Leave Me In The Dark’ takes a 7 minute journey that taps into places the band have been before. No mean feat when that is a melting pot of dub, drum ‘n’ bass, jungle and enough raw power to know that this is a Lucid Dream track.

Side 2 kicks off with ‘Fight To Survive’. A beat belonging in 80s New York, keys more suited to the East Coast counterparts of the time, another statement. ‘It’s a campaign of hate, campaign of hate’.

‘Sunrise’ then takes the album on another tangent. The Lucid Dream tapped into acid house on ‘Actualisation’ but this track is acid/Balearic in its purest form. Another track that begs for communal celebration, when the opportunity permits.
‘High and Wild’ closes the album. The 9 minutes within don’t share the optimism and ‘highs’ displayed in the 35 minutes prior but doesn’t suffer any for it either. The most ‘conventional’ and only guitar based song on the album, this track won’t be found near a dance floor. More suited for the days after, when the highest highs bring the real lows. 

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: A bracing and catatonic mix of 80's post-punk, nu-rave and industrial, The Lucid Dream have a sound all of their own. There's little doubt that this would be perfectly at home last thing at night on a festival stage, lights flashing and synapses firing, or turned up loud on the home stereo.

TRACK LISTING

1) Coalescence
2) CHI-03
3) Leave Me In The Dark
4) Fight To Survive
5) Sunrise
6) High And Wild

Driven by fans raising £10,000 to help replace all equipment robbed after a Paris show in early 2017, a new album became the instant focus in the summer of 2017 for a rejuvenated The Lucid Dream.

‘Actualisation’ is soaked in the influence of acid house, amalgamated with dub and kosmische. It will again see them acknowledged for venturing into pastures new, setting themselves apart from ‘genres’, ‘scenes’ or what any other act are currently doing.

The album was penned over the summer of 2017 by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths), using only the classic Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals as tools for writing. Inspiration for the writing was formed via continuous listening to the Chicago to UK acid house works of 1986-1992, the focus predominantly on the groove.

Several months on from those writing sessions and The Lucid Dream have completed their 4th album in 5 years. A record made for the dancefloor.

Recorded at Whitewood Studios, Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, the album is produced alongside long-time collaborator Ross Halden (Ghost Town Studios, Leeds), with mastering via Dean Honer (All Seeing I/I Monster/The Moonlandingz).

The confrontational techno-punk of ‘Alone In Fear’ opens the album, a 9-minute attack fuelled by the frustration and anger spawned by Brexit, government and a realisation of what 2018 Britain currently is.
Recent single ‘SX1000’ (the first work from the album, unveiled via 12' vinyl in April this year) is the band’s first move into pure acid house. The acid house fusion runs throughout the record, represented furthermore by ‘Ardency’, a track already praised by live critics when aired live for the first time earlier this year as ‘even on first hearing, would’ve raised the roof of The Hacienda’.

The 2-part opus of ‘Zenith’ follows, commencing with a space-dub/house instrumental groove before building into a track that will go for your head as much as your hips. Only ‘Breakdown’ harks back to sounds of old for the band, a little reminder of the skull-crushing impact they can make when stripped to the bare bones. ‘No Sunlight Dub’ closes the album, a dark-dub that invites the classic acid-house tool (Roland 808) into the dub. The track makes a stop-off into drum ‘n’ bass/jungle along the way before rounding up in a manner suited to Lee Perry, King Tubby, Augustus Pablo and other Jamaican greats.

The Lucid Dream formed in Carlisle, Cumbria, in 2008. A string of sold-out 7″s was followed by the debut longer player, ‘Songs Of Lies and Deceit‘, in August 2013. The initial vinyl pressing of the debut album (500 copies) sold out within 2 days, and was backed by a main stage slot at Kendal Calling, and supports to Death In Vegas and A Place To Bury Strangers (full UK tour).

The bands 2nd album (‘The Lucid Dream’) was released in March 2015 to further acclaim. This included 2 BBC 6 Music sessions and plays across most shows on the station, as well as plays from BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens) and BBC Radio 2. Further press followed from Uncut, The Skinny, Louder Than War, and Drowned In Sound, who named the album #7 UK album of 2015. Supports to Clinic and A Place To Bury Strangers also coincided.

3rd album, ‘Compulsion Songs’ was released in September 2016, on Holy Are You Recordings. The vinyl pressing of the album sold-out within a day, prompting an immediate 2nd press, with pre-sales of the album topping 1,000 before release. The album was backed by a headline UK tour, and a main slot at Liverpool International Festival of Psychedelia (for which they were singled out for major plaudits from The Quietus, The Skinny and Drowned In Sound). The album again received acclaim from the likes of Mojo, Uncut, Classic Rock Magazine, BBC Radio 2 (Huey Morgan) and across the board on BBC 6 Music (Lauren Laverne, Marc Riley, Tom Ravenscroft, Gideon Coe, Stuart Maconie).

STAFF COMMENTS

Barry says: Lucid dream just keep getting better. after 2016's 'Compulsions Songs', they've returned for this distorted, acidic slice of propulsive action. Half way between smooth Factory Floor-y techno and post-punky indie, these Carlisle bunch are making big waves. This one is killer.

TRACK LISTING

1) Alone In Fear
2) Zenith (part 1)
3) Zenith (part 2)
4) SX1000
5) Breakdown
6) Ardency
7) No Sunlight Dub

The Lucid Dream return in April with the release of new single ‘SX1000’, the first taster from the recently completed 4th album.

Driven by fans raising £10,000 to help replace all equipment robbed after a Paris show in early 2017, a new album became the instant focus for The Lucid Dream in the summer of 2017.

The track is a slice of pure acid house, and will again see them acknowledged for venturing into pastures new, setting themselves apart from ‘genres’, ‘scenes’ or what any other band are currently doing.

‘SX1000’, as with the whole album, was penned over the summer by Mark Emmerson (vocals/guitar/synths), using only the classic Roland 303/808 synths, bass and vocals as tools for writing.

Inspiration for the writing was formed via continuous listening to the Chicago to UK acid house works of 1986-1992, the focus predominantly on the groove. 5 months on from those writing sessions and The Lucid Dream have competed their 4th album in 5 years, this track a perfect indicator as to what awaits. A record made for the dancefloor.

Compulsion Songs is the 3rd album from Carlisle's The Lucid Dream. Rather than bathe in the critical acclaim of their recent 2nd album, The Lucid Dream are quick out the blocks, venturing into pastures new again, making no secret of their aim to separate themselves from their peers as much as possible. On Compulsion Songs, pulling away from the pack is the order of the day, and the ideas on show here reaffirm the many claims that The Lucid Dream are one of the most important, diverse and exciting bands in the UK at present. Compulsion Songs is a demonstration of the band’s skill in binding the sounds of their broadening musical palette through their unifying songcraft.

Recorded at Whitewood Studios, Liverpool, with Rob Whiteley, the album is produced alongside long-time collaborator Ross Halden (Ghost Town Studios, Leeds). Recent single Bad Texan (the first work from the album unveiled via 12' vinyl in March this year) sees the band move into dancefloor meets Krautrock. The Krautrock/kosmiche groove is also present alongside new-wave in the 2-part opus Nadir/Epitaph. 21st Century is quite appropriately the nearest the band get to a protest song, a 2-minute white noise/garage/rockabilly blast, inspired by a heavy dose of Beastie Boys listening. Elsewhere, the bustling of The Emptiest Place is Morricone meets 60s L.A, Stormy Waters bows to the melodies of The Stone Roses/The Byrds, warping them with a sinister twist in the vein of Spiritualized. The album’s showpiece however comes via the 8-minute space-dub of I'm A Star In My Own Right, as the band hit a full on Kingston, Jamaica dub/groove, set as it is to contorting, reverb-fueled passages. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Bad Texan
2. Stormy Waters
3. I'm A Star In My Own Right
4. The Emptiest Place
5. 21st Century
6. Nadir
7. Epitaph

Carlisle’s mighty LUCID DREAM follow up 2013’s debut full length “Songs of Lies and Deceit” with a killer second LP for The Great Pop Supplement (vinyl version) and Holy are You? (CD).

Last year was the best and most rewarding so far for the band, a slew of sold out 45s, critically acclaimed live shows (including Liverpool’s Festival of Psychedelia) and huge airtime including two sessions on and for 6music.

Harnessing the trance like drone and feedback drenched psychedelia of the first album- the second set here adds a tip of their cap to the kraut groove of Neu! or Can, for a sumptuous head rush of fx pedal, motorik chaos.

Where the second LP succeeds especially is that amongst the beautifully repetitious groove, the bands’ keen ear for melody and hints at west coast inspired sunshine pop displayed on recent 45s still break through like beams of sunlight- and the element of surprise is keenly felt throughout.

A beautiful set of tunes aired first at live shows throughout the past year, before the recording process began in earnest, the songs were then allowed to grow naturally and it makes for a free flowing listen. timed just right. with no filler….